EXCLUSIVE — A group of House Republicans is calling on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide them with unreleased data on COVID-19, alleging the agency’s decision to withhold the information was an effort to “control the narrative” surrounding the pandemic.
In a letter led by House Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana and James Comer of Kentucky that was sent to CDC Director Rochelle Walensky on Friday, the members cited a New York Times report, arguing the information potentially could have helped states better navigate their response efforts to the deadly virus.
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“House Oversight and Reform Committee Republicans and Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis Republicans are conducting oversight of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) decision to withhold vital data and information about COVID-19. According to the New York Times, the CDC failed to publish essential information about COVID-19 hospitalizations, at least in part, to control the narrative around vaccine effectiveness,” they wrote.
“States and localities could have used the withheld data to better inform their efforts to mitigate the virus’ spread in their area,” they continued. “The decision to hide data from the public prevented a more targeted response, likely costing lives and causing unnecessary economic harm. This failure to be transparent further erodes the public’s trust in the CDC.”
The lawmakers took aim at CDC spokeswoman Kristen Nordlund’s comments that the agency has slow-walked its release of data because “it’s not yet ready for prime time” and over concerns that releasing information on breakthrough infections would be “misinterpreted as the vaccines being ineffective.”
The group argued that given the federal funding allocated to the CDC to update its systems, it is unacceptable that it has not produced the data with the country now in its third year of the pandemic.
“The CDC also blamed outdated systems for their inability to release data,” they said. “The CDC received more than $1 billion to modernize their systems yet the agency continues to fail to produce timely, robust, or accurate data. Further, the CDC has received over $23 billion in supplemental funding to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19. There is no reason for the CDC to withhold or release critical data in a piecemeal fashion.”
The lawmakers asserted the information is vital in helping policymakers and localities make informed decisions as they look to transition the country back to a “post-pandemic normal.”
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“Detailed data enables better decision-making. For instance, wastewater surveillance nationwide would spot outbreaks and emerging variants; booster shot effectiveness data would inform who should receive booster shots, and tracking breakthrough infections would allow Americans to make their own informed risk analysis,” they said. “The American people deserve transparency and accountability.”
The lawmakers called for the information to be provided to the committees by March 11.
